Needs From: Volunteer United

An Alzheimer’s and Dementia Educator plays a key role in raising awareness and providing education about Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and brain health. This will involve delivering presentations, workshops, and educational sessions to various groups, including caregivers, families, and people living with dementia, to increase understanding of dementia and promote early detection, prevention strategies, and caregiving support.

Qualifications

·         Strong skills in communication, presenting, and educating adult audiences.

·         Ability to create and maintain a safe environment where participants’ thoughts and feelings are valued and everyone is treated with fairness and respect.

·         Comfort with computers, email, and powerpoint presentations.

·         Passionate about supporting people living with dementia and their family caregivers.

Responsibilities

·         Deliver prepared, engaging, and informative education programs to families, caregivers, and people living with dementia.

·         Facilitate discussions and answer questions to help participants better understand dementia and caregiving challenges

·         Refer complex questions to the ESLC Community Dementia Services department.

·         Ensure a positive, informative, and encouraging experience for attendees.

·         Provide information about local resources, support services, and programs available to individuals living with dementia and their caregivers.

·         Collect up to date contact information from participants and submit session attendance.

·         Collaborate with staff to obtain the materials needed.

·         Send participants follow up information and resources when applicable.

·         Report any problems or concerns

·         Maintain confidentiality

Time Commitment

·         Facilitate at least one session a month.

·         Minimum time commitment of 6 months.

Description

Support Group Facilitators provide a supportive and open space where people can share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences alongside others to help them cope with and manage the common challenges of dementia.

Qualifications

·         Excellent communication and listening skills

·         Ability to separate personal needs from group needs.

·         Ability to create and maintain a safe environment where participants’ thoughts and feelings are valued and everyone is treated with fairness and respect.

·         Passionate about supporting people living with dementia and their family caregivers.

·         Personal or professional experience with Alzheimer’s or dementia preferred.

Responsibilities

·         Facilitate discussions among groups of caregivers or individuals living with dementia, offering social and emotional support

·         Guide discussions to encourage group members to share and offer emotional support to one another.

·         Encourage group members to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

·         Ensure a positive, encouraging experience for attendees.

·         Collect up to date contact information from participants and submit session attendance.

·         Send participants follow up information and resources when applicable.

·         Remind participants of upcoming meetings.

·         Report any problems or concerns

·         Maintain confidentiality

Time Commitment

·         Facilitate at least one session a month, or 12 sessions in a calendar year.

·         Minimum commitment of 12 months.

St. Leo's Senior Apartments is a supportive housing community in Hilton, New York. Episcopal SeniorLife Communities provides services to residents at St. Leo's through the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI). Friendly visitors work on a one-on-one basis with residents, have conversations, play games, and provide social interaction. The goals of the friendly visitor program are to provide mental stimulation and social support. 

Qualifications: 

Responsibilities: 

Description

Friendly visitors work on a one – on – one basis with residents, have conversations, play games and provide social interaction. The goals of the friendly visitor program are to alleviate isolation and loneliness by providing a companion who will provide additional mental stimulation and social support.

·         Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

·         Patience, understanding and compassion

·         Desire to develop relationships and work with seniors

·         High degree of reliability

·         Facilitate the conversation

o   Use creativity in expressing both feelings and message

o   Demonstrate patience, slow down, listen, watch, wait for a response, repeat a phrase as needed

o   Strong communication skills in effectively conveying messages and feelings

·         Provide companionship and friendship

·         Participate in activities which are of interest to the resident (playing cards/games, reading aloud, writing letters, etc.)

·         When weather allows, spend time outside in courtyards, balconies or front patio

·         Plan the date and time of your next visit, and how to notify the person if you are unable to keep the date

·         Ensure that actions and conversations reflect respect for the residents and their property, at all times

·         Provide for dignity of residents, in accordance with organization philosophy and standards, at all times

·         Report any problems or concerns

·         Maintain confidentiality

·         Approximately once a week or once every two weeks for 1-2 hours

·         Minimum commitment of 6 months

Description

Pet visitors are welcome and wanted at all ESLC communities, particularly Ashley Woods, Seabury Woods, and Brentland Woods Assisted Living Communities and our skilled nursing home, the Episcopal Church Home. Pet visitors will come in with their pets for residents to spend time with. Pets that are well-mannered, patient, and like to be touched are preferred.

Qualifications

·         An interest in working with seniors

·         A well-mannered pet who enjoys being around people

·         An interesting pet (turtle, snake, tarantula, guinea pig, bunny, etc) that can be an educational visitor to residents 

Responsibilities

o Spend time and visit with residents

o   Patience, compassion, and comfortability in working with an older population

o   Teach residents about pets  - share pet’s name, age, info about the species

Time Commitment

·         Visits can be one-time or on a regular basis (monthly, weekly, etc.). Regular visitors preferred.

ESLC is seeking volunteers who are energetic and eager to help in the community, particularly in ways that connect with the older adult population. All of ESLC’s communities are looking for ways to further enrich the lives of residents through volunteer-lead programming. Life Enrichment Volunteers can lead programs in groups or as individuals, and some examples include:

·         Nutrition or cooking demonstrations

·         Crafts

·         Educational presentations, such as history, science, or literature

·         Travel “logs,” with photos and experiences of visiting or living in a foreign country

·         Writing, such as short stories or poems

·         Basic technology, such as use of applications and phones

·         Clubs such as knitting, book clubs, movie clubs, etc.

·         Games such as Bingo, cards, or other group games

·         Musical performances or demonstrations such as singing or playing an instrument(s)

·         Dance performances or demonstrations

·         Theater performances such as short plays or improvisation

·         Physical fitness, such as conditioning, yoga, or balance classes

Life Enrichment Volunteers can lead one-time programs or on a regular basis. Ideally, these programs should be between the hours of 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM. Volunteers should have solid skills in the program topic and comfortability teaching and/or performing. Details will vary depending on the ESLC community.

Tech Support Volunteers assist residents with operating their personal technology such as cell phones, tablets, and laptop computers. Tech support volunteers will help residents set up their devices, change settings, connect multiple devices, and any other basic tech help they may need. Tech Support Volunteers will visit their ESLC community occasionally to provide assistance during an “office hours” period.

Qualifications:

·         Basic knowledge of and confidence in operating cell phones, computers, and tablets

·         An interest in working with seniors

·         Ability to effectively communicate

·         Patient and understanding with a problem-solving attitude

Responsibilities:

·         Assist residents with personal technology in an “office hours” setting

·         Help residents adjust the settings on their personal devices to suit their needs or preferences

·         Aid residents in connecting devices with each other, deleting apps, and other basic device uses

·         Maintain a good rapport with residents and families

o   Demonstrate patience and understanding

o   Remain positive

o   Be courteous and helpful at all times

o   Provide for dignity of residents, in accordance with organization philosophy and standards, at all times

o   Ensure that actions and conversations reflect respect for the residents and their property at all times

Time Commitment

·         Once a month

St. Leo Senior Apartments is an independent living community in Hilton. St. Leo is seeking volunteers who are energetic and eager to help in the community, particularly in ways that will connect with the older adult population.

St. Leo is seeking volunteers to lead activities and classes on the following topics: 

·Physical fitness, such as conditioning, yoga, or balance classes

·Nutrition or cooking demonstrations

·Visual arts, such as drawing and painting

·Crafts

·Educational topics, such as history or literature

·Foreign languages

·Travel “logs”, with photos and experiences of visiting or living in a foreign country

·Writing, such as short stories or poetry

·Basic technology, such as use of applications and computer skills

Ideally, classes will be between the hours of 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM. The duration of a class is typically one hour. They can be one-time classes or occur on a regular basis. Volunteers should have solid skills in the class topic.